“WORD ASSOCIATION”

Word association is a mental process used to trigger other words. The goal of word association tests or games is to expose one’s unconscious mind, to drill down to one’s true character, values, nature, beliefs, and so forth. I say, “love” and perhaps you say, “wife” or “pizza” or “money” or “hate” or “God” or “America,” etc. I believe there are things to be learned through such exercises.

 “ALIEN” WORD ASSOCIATION PHONE SURVEY

Not long ago, a group did a “word association” phone survey. Toward the end, the word given was “alien.” What were the response words? Almost 100% said, “illegal” or “UFO” (UFO was sometimes expressed as “spaceship,” or “little green men,” etc.) So, the word “alien” either triggered a response related to the illegal aliens who have flooded our nation the last couple years or it triggered a response related to the UFO discussion that is virtually everywhere, and is being increasingly hyped. One thing is for sure, the word “alien” is a powerful word; it evokes definitive responses!

WHY WERE THERE PRIMARILY ONLY TWO RESPONSES; WHERE IS THE THIRD?

Had my grandfather have gone through this exercise, I am almost positive that his response word would have been “Christians!” Both he and my father often discussed, taught, and preached, about the great importance of Christians not losing their identity as aliens in this world. They did so because this is a fundamental Biblical precept. To forsake our spiritual identity, with real world implications and applications, is to become comfortable in a world in which we should never feel as if we really belong. In many ways, the Bible stressed the importance of not exchanging our identity as aliens for an identity as a foreigner (in modern terms, a foreigner on an extended visa or a foreigner who had settled in to enjoy the fruits of their visit).

If we are honest, the word “alien” is much more powerful and meaningful than any similar word; I have just demonstrated that to be true through simple word association. So, it is important to understand that the Biblical use of it is completely intentional. We are not to settle in as inhabitants of a world that Biblically, is Satan’s domain.

Early Christians spoke about themselves as aliens in this world; it was an identity they embraced, an identity that shaped the church and the lives of every early Christian. It was an identity that kept them sharply focused on the values of Heaven, of The Kingdom of God. It was an identify that served as a roadblock to them being seduced into the lie that Christians need to blend in with the world.

IT IS THE ABSENCE OF THIS THIRD GROUP OF ALIENS THAT MATTERS THE MOST

Many Christians have ceased to see themselves as aliens in this world! And like so much else, the “church community” has become so immersed in the things of this world, that many have given up our Chrisitan identity. But 1 PETER 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” Over and over again, God’s Word reminds us that the most important “alien” truth, is for Christians to never feel too at home in this world. If we allow our hopes, dreams, pursuits, priorities, values and actions to be totally rooted in the ways of this world, we no longer have to worry about Satan waging “war against” one’s “soul.” There is no need to “war against” that which you have overtaken.

Am I overstating the importance of the concept of Christians not relinquishing their identify as aliens in the domain of Satin?

WHY CHANGE THE WORD “ALIENS?”

1 PETER 2:11 gives us some insight into this “war” and whether or not there is any attempt to cause us to conform to the world, any attempt at reshaping our reasoning, any attempt at changing the Word of God!

For the last couple years, I have noticed how internet-based Bibles and some translations that have been around for countless years, have slowly removed or changed words (this revelation alone should greatly trouble you, enable you to see the scheme that is at work, and so burden you that you feel the overwhelming need to bring this in prayer to our Heavenly Father). In the example I will cite, someone does not even want the word “alien” to be read (it would take too long to explain all the motives, but the evidence is undeniable). The original NIV translation reads exactly as I typed it: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” But internet-based Bibles and many newly published versions of older translations, read as follows: “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” True, it is a subtle change, but it is very intentional; these types of changes are not being done without motive. And tragically, whoever is pulling the strings of those removing and/or replacing words in the Bible, is calling these rewrites of Scripture, “Fresh Considerations.”

Friends, in the original Greek text, the word translated as “aliens” is “paroikos.” What does “paroikos” literally mean? Well, according to Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. (who was from Greece and had the best understanding of Biblical Greek, of anyone I have ever known), the literal translation of “paroikos” is “alien.” Christians are not just “foreigners” in this world, living large as others swoon over their foreign accent – we are to be “aliens” in this world, we were never intended to fit in and be totally content anywhere but Heaven. Aliens know they are not at home. They feel out of place and have a sense of feeling uneasy. They often want to talk about their “homeland” and hunger to be there.

So, am I overstating the importance of the concept of Christians not relinquishing their identify as aliens in the domain of Satin? Well, the members of the ”Fresh Considerations” Committee, felt that it was critically important to change that one particular word! Satan, and those working diligently to reshape our world, are not concerned about the existence of churches or that some identify as Christians; what does concern them is that we might reclaim our identity as aliens – that we would no longer seek to be accepted – that we’d put into action the values, character and priorities of our true homeland, Heaven, and The Kingdom of God.

FINAL THOUGHT

Christians, who were never meant to consider this world as their homeland, are the one of the three alien groups that are most often undetectable -as aliens – in the midst of those who are living in this world as their true homeland.

At the very least, when we work to conform to this world – fearful of being recognized as aliens, we miss out on “the full measure of joy” that is God’s gift to those of us who are not ashamed that we “are not of the world.”

JOHN 17:13-16, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

MAY YOU LIVE AS “ALIENS” IN THIS WORLD, CITIZENS OF HEAVEN, SO THAT DAILY – YOU MIGHT LIVE IN “THE FULL MEASURE OF” JESUS’ “JOY WITHIN” YOU – SO THAT YOU MAY NOT FORGET OR FORSAKE YOUR IDENTITY AS ALIENS. IF THE CHURCH CEASES TO BLEND IN WITH THE WORLD, AND PROUDLY LIVES AS ALIENS, WE CAN HAVE AN IMMEASURABLE AND POWERFUL IMPACT; WE CAN HAVE AN ETERNAL IMPACT!